How to factory reset the Nexus 6P

The Nexus 6P is Google’s latest Android flagship and it’s a great device – but of course, like any other smartphone or phablet, it can start to misbehave. If you’re having to put up with unusual crashes, unwanted shutdowns or general misbehavior, a factory reset may be the cure. Here’s how to factory reset the Nexus 6P.

As the name suggests, a factory reset puts your phone back to factory fresh condition. With the exception of firmware updates, anything you’ve put on it will be wiped. You can easily restore from your Google account, but of course, you’ll need to ensure that’s been synced before you do it. As with any major system thing, make sure you have a backup of anything important – not just files and photos but any login details you might need too.

Factory resetting your Nexus 6P using the settings menu couldn’t be simpler: just go to Settings > Backup and Reset and choose Factory Data Reset. This will delete the data and restart your phone, hopefully without any of the problems that you’re trying to fix.

Nexus 6P factory reset: how to do it with the hardware buttons

Sometimes you can’t get into Settings, or your phone gets trapped in what’s known as a bootloop, whereby it keeps restarting before it’s loaded Android. No problem: you can perform a factory reset with hardware buttons too. To do it:

Power off your Nexus

Hold the volume and power down buttons simultaneously

When the options screen appears, use the volume down button to select Recovery